Isn't It Obvious?
by Insane Elven Pirate
Summary: One-shot. Zutara. Sometimes we miss the things that are directly in front of us. Not because it's hidden, but because we simply aren't looking. If we had seen it sooner, would we have had more time? Fluff, Angst


**Re-posted, because I decided I could make it better. Please give it another chance!**

**Title: Isn't it Obvious?**

**Author: Insane Elven Pirate**

**Rating: K+ - Nothing inappropriate**

**Pairing: Zutara**

**Summary: One-shot. Sometimes we miss the things that are directly in front of us. Not because it's hidden, but because we simply aren't looking. If we had seen it sooner, would we have had more time? Fluff, Angst**

**Yeah, you read right, fluff and angst in the same fic. Surprisingly, it actually worked out pretty well.**

**This was inspired by Neurosylum's picture Zutara: Forever -Part 1-. If you don't already know who she is, you should definitely go check her out on devArt! :D**

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

- - -

Time slowed.

A rushing sound filled her ears.

She couldn't get her legs to move fast enough.

Katara's world fell apart around her as she watched Zuko slump slowly, painfully to the ground.

She vaguely found herself wondering how it had come to be this way. How did the person she had hated most turn out to be the one who mattered so much? How had her one-time enemy become her friend? More, even.

And how come, as she was losing him, the only thing she could think about was the time they spent together? Why couldn't she focus on more important things? Like the now?

But her mind kept going back to when it had all started, about a month ago...

- - -

_They were alone by the river. The others were back at camp, telling stories around the campfire._

_Zuko gazed solemnly across the river, staring blankly out into the distance. Katara wondered what he was thinking. He had already been in their group for a week, but he was still as much of a mystery to her as he was when he had first stepped off his ship at her village in the South Pole. A multitude of emotions always painted his scarred visage, and Katara was finding it difficult to identify certain ones._

_"Just tell me... Why did you do it? Why did you side with Azula?" she demanded, frustration filling her voice._

_Zuko turned towards her, but stared at the ground to avoid her eyes. "It's... difficult to explain," he mumbled._

_"Well, try!" Katara cried. She lowered her voice to an angry whisper, "You at least owe me that much."_

_Zuko looked up at her, and Katara was instantly taken aback by the intensity of his stare. It reminded her of the look he had always worn when she fought him, yet it was... different somehow. His fierce amber eyes locked onto her stunned blue ones, and Katara became completely mesmerized by his gaze. That he can put so much emotion (anger, determination, shame, and many others that Katara couldn't yet identify) into one look was truly remarkable._

_"I had to! Can't you see I had to?!" he cried, his voice rising slightly in anger. "You don't know what it's like to be rejected by your own family." He moved closer, until he was standing right in front of her. Katara refused to be intimidated and held her ground. "To have everything you held dear ripped away from you." He leaned closer, so that they were face to face. "To spend years chasing a phantom hope just to get it all back." His voice was lower now, barely above a whisper, and his tone had lost all of the fight, "I didn't..." He closed his eyes and slowly slumped forward in utter defeat until his forehead was touching hers. Katara was too shocked to do anything but stare at his face, which was far closer to hers than she had thought the face of her one-time enemy would ever be._

_"I didn't know what else to do..." he whispered. A warm hand found Katara's wrist and held it firmly. "I was desperate."_

_They remained that way for a moment, foreheads touching, her wrist in his hand, before Zuko pulled his forehead away and looked up into her eyes, his face still inches from hers. He had a troubled look on his face, as though he were searching for the correct thing to say or do. Finally he simply said, "I'm sorry," before releasing her wrist and walking back towards the camp._

_Katara stared after him, shocked and confused. _What had just happened_?_

- - -

As Zuko fell, Aang sent a flurry of attacks towards Azula, and as soon as they had defeated the soldiers they were facing, Sokka and Toph quickly joined the fight. But Katara didn't care about Azula. All that mattered to her now was the boy laying on the ground.

"Zuko..." she whispered, as she finally, after what seemed like an eternity of running, reached his fallen form. She knelt beside him and cradled his head in her lap. "Zuko, you're alright. Everything's going to be fine."

She gathered water to her hands. It had rained earlier today, Katara remembered gratefully, so everything was wet.

Zuko blinked up at her weakly, "Katara...?" he mumbled.

"Yes, I'm here. Don't talk. It's going to be okay." Katara frantically began moving her water gloved hands over his cool skin, trying to heal as completely and quickly as she could.

Zuko groaned and closed his eyes in pain. He swallowed slowly, as if it were difficult for him to do so, and his breathing quickened as he squirmed slightly in her lap. "It.. It hurts. It hurts!"

"Shh... Shh.. I know. I know it hurts. I'm doing everything I can..." Katara's vision blurred and she quickly blinked away the tears that were threatening to spill. "It's going to be okay."

She repeated the phrase, uselessly. "It's going to be okay." But was it?

- - -

_Katara and Zuko were alone in the campsite. After they had unpacked, Toph had dragged off Aang for some earthbending practice, while Sokka had declared a need to scout the area for supplies. This left Katara stirring a pot which contained that night's dinner while Zuko sat opposite from her, tending the fire._

_Neither of them had mentioned that night by the river. They had both silently agreed that it didn't need to be brought up._

_Growing bored with the the work of stirring the pot, Katara glanced up and then did a double-take as she realized Zuko was staring intently at her. Like she was the only thing that mattered. Like when he had been bent on capturing Aang._

_"_What_?!" she cried, as a hot blush crept its way onto her cheeks. Why did he have to _look_ at her so?_

_"...Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly, hunching in on himself so that he had to look up at her._

_Katara frowned at him, confused. That was the last thing she had expected from the Prince (_'EX_-Prince,' she had to remind herself) of the Fire Nation. "What do you mean?"_

_Zuko glanced down at the ground and began to play with a piece of grass nervously between his fingers. "Well... " he began, a worried crease forming between his eyebrows, "You seem... troubled."_

_Katara blinked at him in shock. It was true that she had been becoming more and more anxious with regards to their plan, or rather, lack-there-of for defeating the Firelord. On top of that, she was beginning to fret about the troops they had left behind in the Fire Nation. The more time that passed, the more worried she became, and all this wondering about what had happened to them and if they were okay was driving her insane. But she had thought she'd done a good job at hiding these feelings. After all, she had to keep up a strong front for Aang and the others._

_"Troubled?" She repeated, hoping to stall answering his question._

_Zuko shrugged, looking at everything but her, (Why did he have to do that? It was so aggravating!) "You often seem distracted, and when you think no one's looking, you look distressed, like something's bothering you."_

_"Well... I'm fine..." she snapped quickly, as she began to stir the pot faster._

_He paused, a frown playing on his lips, before asking, "_Are_ you?"_

_Katara stopped stirring and glared at him. "Even if I'm not, what does it matter to you? Why do you care?" she spat, angrily._

_Zuko finally looked at her then, and Katara could swear the expression on his face was a look of pain, or great sorrow._

_"Isn't it obvious?"_

- - -

Aang, Toph, and Sokka slowly walked up behind her.

"Azula got away..." Sokka mumbled, "She saw that she was outnumbered and fled."

Katara barely heard them, she was so busy trying to fix Zuko. He had slipped into unconsciousness and his breathing was slow, but steady. She kept one of her gloved hands always above his heart, willing it to keep beating, while the other roamed about his chest trying to heal his other wounds.

Aang came to kneel beside her. "How is he?" he asked quietly.

"I... I don't know," she admitted, feeling lost.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sokka asked quietly from behind her. When she didn't reply he tried again. "Katara?" he urged gently, "Is there anything we can do?"

Katara shook her head numbly. She didn't even know if there was anything _she_ could do.

- - -

_"Katara?" Katara recognized Zuko's rough whisper from across the camp._

_"Hmm?" she groaned in response._

_"Are you awake?"_

_"No." she grumbled, annoyance creeping into her tone._

_Silence. Katara was about to ask if he had actually taken her seriously, and what did he want anyway, when he asked, "They're beautiful, aren't they?"_

_"Huh?" _

_"The stars."_

_"Oh." She looked up at the sky. She hadn't noticed them before now, but the stars were extraordinarily beautiful tonight. "Yeah, they really are." She didn't bother putting any malice behind her words. She was beginning to reailize that she didn't really want to anymore. She was growing tired of always trying to fight with him._

_"My mom used to tell me stories about the constellations," Zuko murmured softly, "We used to stay up late just looking at the stars."_

_Katara smiled sadly, remembering her own mother. "Must have been nice..." _

_"...Yeah... it was..." Zuko's soft reply was followed by a long silence._

_Suddenly Katara heard a shuffling noise. Craning her neck to look across the campsite at Zuko, she could see he was getting out of his sleeping bag and bundling it in his arms. Carefully, he pickled his way around the sleeping bodies until he reached her. He dropped the sleeping bag beside her, took a moment to smooth it out and quickly climbed inside. Their sides were just barely touching and Katara could feel his warmth through their sleeping bags. "What are you doing?" she asked._

_Instead of answering, Zuko pointed up towards the heavens. "You see that group of stars there?" he asked, outlining a pattern of stars. "The ones that form a lionfox?"_

_"What?" Katara asked, pointing towards to the sky as well. "Those?"_

_"No, to your left."_

_"Those?"_

_"A little lower."_

_"Those?" she pointed again, starting to get frustrated._

_"No. Here," he grabbed her wrist. "That's the head," he said, guiding her hand to draw a pattern in the sky. "The body..."_

_Katara was surprised to find that his touch was gentle... _

_"The legs..."_

_...that her face was growing warm... _

_"And the tail." _

_...and that she wasn't entirely opposed to their proximity._

_"Oh," she murmured, "I see it now." The shape did vaguely resemble a lionfox._

_Without letting go of her wrist, Zuko explained, "That's the Great Mother Lionfox. And over here," he guided her wrist to trace three new shapes in the sky, "are her three cubs."_

_"Yeah, I see them."_

_"When I was a child, that was the story my mom told me the most often. I think it was her favorite."_

_"Really? How'd it go?"_

_"I... don't remember..."_

_"Oh..."_

_"Yeah..."_

_Zuko let go of Katara's hand and an awkward silence filled the air._

_Finally, when it became too much for her, Katara decided to voice the question that she couldn't help but admit had been eating at the back of her mind since dinner. "Zuko?"_

_"Hmm?"_

_She turned to look at him. The moonlight falling on his face gave him an almost heavenly glow, and Katara was surprised at how beautiful he looked. Had he always looked like that, or was it just a trick of the light? Katara shook her head to dismiss the thought and cleared her throat. "Earlier today," she began, "When you asked 'Isn't it obvious?' Well..." she hesitated, unsure if she should continue. But Aang and Toph had returned before she had a chance to ask, and she had to do it now, or she may never get another opportunity. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What did you mean?"_

_Zuko turned to look at her. His gaze held all the answers. What should have been obvious, but somehow wasn't. How come she didn't see before?_

_She hadn't been looking, she realized. Not really. All that time she spent fuming about what a puzzle he was... She had just never bothered to really look._

_As they held each other's gaze, Katara could feel something building between them. A feeling so intense that it left her breathless. Nothing seemed to matter but them, lying here, staring at each other under the stars. _

_Suddenly he wasn't Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation, her enemy. He wasn't Zuko, the boy who had tried to capture Aang and tied her to a tree. Or Zuko, the boy who had betrayed her trust so easily for something he desperately wanted, but that she didn't understand._

_He was just Zuko, the boy who had shown her constellations in the stars, and had somehow, as much as she hated to admit it, managed to work his way into her heart._

_In this moment, Katara felt complete, like a part of her that she hadn't even known she was missing had been filled._

_After what seemed like forever and mere seconds combined, Zuko turned away, breaking the spell. "Zuko?" she asked softly, sitting up._

_Zuko wormed his way out of the sleeping bag and quickly stood up. "Good night, Katara," he said softly, before he carried his sleeping bag back across the camp._

- - -

Katara kept working, determined to save Zuko's life. Time seemed to fall away, and she was only dimly aware of what the others were doing around her.

Time. She wished she had more of it. If she had noticed him, who he _really_ was, sooner, would they have had more time?

When it started to rain for the second time that day, Toph bent a tent of earth to cover them and keep them dry while Katara healed.

The damage was more extensive than she would have thought. The burning energy of Azula's lightning had traveled through his body, wreaking havoc on his insides.

Water ran down Katara's cheeks, and she briefly wondered if there were a leak in Toph's earth tent, before she realized they were tears.

Angrily, she wiped them away. Breaking down and crying would do her no good now. She had to stay focused if she wanted to save Zuko.

- - -

_"Zuko!"_

_Zuko looked up, surprised at her call. He set the bundle he was unloading from Appa on the ground and walked over to her. "What is it?"_

_Katara placed her hands on her hips and gave him her angriest scowl. "Why have you been avoiding me?"_

_The blank look on his face as he blinked at her with surprise, in a fake display of innocence, would have made her laugh if she weren't so annoyed. "I haven't been avoiding you," he responded after a moment._

_"Yes, you have. For the past week, you've refused to be left alone with me. You always come up with some excuse to go off with one of the others."_

_"We're alone now," he pointed out._

_She snorted, "Not by your choice." When Appa had landed, and she suggested that Zuko and she could unload the bison while the others went off to perform various other chores, he had desperately insisted that Aang needed to practice firebending. Luckily (for Katara, although not so much for Zuko,) Toph had kicked him in the shin and dragged Aang away to practice with her. He was still limping now, although she had a hunch that was just for theatrics._

_He rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I just... I wasn't... I didn't know.. I thought that... I mean... I was still... unsure... about how you felt about me..." He stammered nervously, looking at his feet and fidgeting._

_Katara smiled coyly at him, "What? You mean it's not obvious?"_

_Zuko looked up at her in surprise. Stepping forward, Katara grabbed a handful of his shirt in one hand and pulled him forward so that their lips touched in a kiss_

- - -

"Katara..." Sokka stepped into the tent. He knelt beside his sister and put one hand on her shoulder. "You're wearing yourself out."

"What else am I supposed to do?" Katara asked bitterly. "Just let him die?"

"No, but..."

"But, nothing! If I don't do this he will die!" Katara argued, her voice sounding more frantic than she meant it to. She took a deep breath to calm herself before saying, "I'm his only hope."

Sokka looked sympathetically at his sister. "I understand. Really, I do. Just... Don't overwork yourself... Please..."

Katara didn't reply. Sokka remained by her side a moment longer before sighing and stepping out of the tent.

- - -

_"_Zuko_?" Sokka cried, for the fourth time that evening. "I mean, _ZUKO_?!"_

_When Sokka had returned to find the two of them kissing, he had gone balistic. While Sokka stood there gaping, Zuko had conviently noticed their supply of firewood was low, and had run off to find some before Sokka could stop him. So Katara was forced to sit and listen to her brother's rant, alone, while a crazily amused earthbender sat back and enjoyed the show, adding her own comments now and then. _

_"_I _think he's hot!" Toph said, grinning mischieviously. _

_"Yeah, well, that's not the poi- _TOPH_! Now's not the time!" he screeched, realizing the girl was playing a joke on him as she batted her unseeing eyes up in his direction._

_"It was pun, too, in case you didn't notice," she pointed out, mildly please with herself._

_"Yes, yes, I get it. Zuko's very hot!" he cried, anxious to get on with his 'Why dating angsty teen princes is bad' speech._

_"You really think so?" Toph asked, in mock curiosity._

_"_TOPH_!"_

_And so it had gone until Aang, of all people, stepped in on her behalf._

_"Sokka..." he said softly, a hint of sadness to his voice, "It's her choice."_

_"Aang..." Katara said, stepping forward._

_The young airbender looked up at her, and Katara was crushed to see the hurt in his eyes. "It's okay, Katara. Just... be happy." He sighed softly, "That's what really matters most to me. Be with someone who makes you happy. And if Zuko is that person..." he shrugged._

_"I really think he is," Katara said quietly, realizing it was true. How much her life had changed, that she should be saying that about _him.

_"I... You... But..." Sokka stuttered, trying hard not to give in. "Oh, all right. I keep forgetting you're not my baby sister anymore." He smiled. "You're big enough to make your own decisions now."_

_"I'll always be your baby sister, Sokka," Katara said brightly, smiling warmly up at her big brother._

_"That you will be. Come here." He opened his arms up wide, and Katara stepped into them for a hug. Upon her insistence, Aang and Toph soon joined in._

_"Umm..." a voice came hesitantly from behind them. "Am I interrupting something?" It was Zuko, who had just returned from 'gathering firewood.' Strangely, however, his arms bore no signs of any wood._

_"Get over here Zuko," Toph ordered. _

_"I... what? But- _GAH_!" Toph yanked him down and he grumbled softly as he was forced into the group hug. _

_The young earthbender giggled. "There. This isnt so bad, is it?"_

_Zuko muttered something unintelligable and the group soon broke apart._

_Sokka pointed a finger at Zuko, "Don't think that just because we hugged, that I'm gonna let you off easy," he warned. "I got my eye on you. If you try anything..."_

_Zuko's eyes hardened. "I would _never_," he said, his voice picking up a dangerous edge to it._

_"Hmph." Sokka eyed Zuko suspiciously before stalking off to the supply bags, mumbling something about meat._

_Aang gave Katara one last sorrowful glance that sent a pang through her heart, before he smiled softly and went to feed Appa dinner._

_Toph stretched. "Well, I'm not going to impose upon you two lovebirds," she announced, walking in the same direction Sokka had gone. "Hey Sokka!" she called. "Where's that meat?"_

_Once they were alone, at least, as alone they could be in a campsite with three other people, Zuko released a long breath slowly through his nose. "That..." he began, "was incredibly stupid," _

_Katara snorted. "I don't seem to recall _you_ complaining at the time." _

_"Yeah, well..." He smiled softly. "It was pretty nice..." _

_Katara giggled as his cheeks turned bright red and he quickly glanced away._

- - -

Sometime later, Aang came by to see if Katara wanted any dinner. The bowl of soup he had brought now sat beside her, cold and untouched. She wasn't hungry.

The way Zuko looked so fragile, laying there on the cold ground, uconcious made her stomach twist in fear.

What if- No. She couldn't think about that. He _would_ get better. He _had to_ get better.

After all, how could she possibly cope if he didn't?

- - -

_"Hey, Zuko?" Katara asked, quietly. Zuko leaned against a tree. Katara sat in his lap, supported by his strong chest._

_"Hmm?" Zuko responded, playing with her hair between his fingers._

_"Do you believe in love?"_

_Zuko paused, contemplating the question. "Yes, I do," he confirmed finally. "What about you?"_

_Katara closed her eyes and smiled. "Yeah..." she said, wistfully, "I really do."_

_Suddenly Zuko wrapped his arms tight around her. Katara yelped and laughed happily when he buried his face in her neck. He turned his face upward and breathed softly into her ear, "I love you, Katara."_

- - -

Katara worked late into the night. The tent was completely dark, the only source of light being the glow from her healing water.

Finally, she had done all she could. Now all that was left was to wait for him to wake up.

- - -

_It was the perfect morning, in spite of the weather. The air smelled crisp and clean from the rain that poured mercilessly from the sky._

_Toph and Sokka were fighting over the last piece of the jerky they had bought from the village they stopped at this morning. Aang was playing with Appa and throwing small snacks for Momo to catch mid-air. Katara was practicing her waterbending. And Zuko watched her from under a canopy of trees, sheltered from the weather._

_Katara laughed when she saw the glare on his face. "What's the matter? Is the big, bad firebender afraid of a little rain?" she called, teasingly._

_Zuko's frown darkened. "No. I just happen to not like getting wet, thank you very much."_

_"Aww... Poor little Zuko."_

_Zuko scowled. "Shut up."_

_Katara laughed even harder. "Zuko's afraid of the water!" she cried in a singsong voice._

_"Am not."_

_"Are too."_

_Zuko's glare turned into a smirk, and he stepped out from under his shelter. He walked towards Katara, who screamed gleefully and tried to run away. However, she was laughing too hard to get very far, and Zuko had no trouble catching up to her. Effortlessly, he lifted her over one shoulder._

_"Hey, put me down!" she cried, beating her fists uselessly against his back._

_He ignored her protests. "I'm gonna borrow Katara for a bit," he called over his shoulder to the others._

_"Now wait just one minute-" Sokka began, but he was quickly silenced when Toph pushed him over._

_"Have fun Sugar-Queen!" the young earthbender called, as Zuko carried Katara off into the woods._

- - -

One hour passed.

- - -

Splash_!_

_Katara stared up at Zuko in shock. He had carried her off to a spring, not far into the woods and preceded to toss her into the water._

_He grinned down smugly at her. "You like water so much? Fine. Now you're soaked."_

_He turned to walk back towards the campsite, but a tentacle of water quickly shot out and grabbed his leg. It knocked him off-balance and pulled him backwards into the water, so that he fell with a splash next to Katara._

_Katara smiled at the dumbstruck look on Zuko's face. "Now we're BOTH soaked."_

_"What- Why- You-!" Zuko sputtered uselessly. "You'll pay for that!"_

_"Oh, will I?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow._

- - -

Two hours.

- - -

_"Okay, okay I surrender!" Zuko cried, laughing as Katara sat on top of him, a ball of water held high above her head._

_Katara grinned triumphantly. "I thought you might." She returned the water to the spring, which they were now sitting next to._

_"Are you going to get off me now?" Zuko asked, raising a brow quizzically._

_"Mmm... No, I don't think I will," Katara said contentedly._

_"Fine," Zuko reached up and put a hand behind Katara's neck and gently pulled her down into a kiss. _

_When they broke apart he smiled up at her. "I'll love you forever," he said, his voice gentle._

_Katara couldn't help but grin foolishly. "Me too."_

- - -

Three hours. He had promised her forever. So why wasn't he waking up?

- - -

_When the two of them returned to camp, they were practically glowing with happiness. The rain had stopped, so the group of five decided to build a small fire and prepare lunch. When the soup was warmed up, they put out the fire and sat around in a circle together, eating._

_Suddenly Toph's eyes widened in alarm as she put a hand to the ground, "Someone's coming!" she announced._

_"Well, well," a voice suddenly came from behind them, "The Avatar and friends all having lunch together. How cute."_

_They all turned to see Azula step into the clearing, followed by some Fire Nation soldiers._

_It didn't take long for a fight to break out. The air was filled with the sounds and smells of fighting. Sweat. The angry clashing of metal. Smoke. The sweet, musty smell of fresh earth. The ferocious howl of bent air. Katara's senses were well attuned to it all. She became acutely aware of everything that was going on around her._

_They fought hard. Katara's hair loops had fallen out, and her brown hair hung wildly around her face. A couple of rough falls left her dress in tatters, and a couple of sore spots on her hips and legs would probably turn to bruises by morning. Looking around, Katara could see the others were in about the same condition._

_Despite all this, however, they were winning. A few of the soldiers had already run off, afraid of being killed by the Avatar and his powerful friends. A triumphant grin spread across Katara's face as the soldier she had been facing took a particularly bad blow from her water whip and opted to limp away from the battleground while he still had the chance._

_Suddenly, the sharp, bitter smell of copper filled the air. Lightning. Who was Azula fighting? Katara turned to see that Aang was the one facing off against Azula._

_But Azula wasn't facing Aang. One of the soldiers that Katara could have sworn had ran away was keeping the young Avatar distracted. _

_Azula wound her arms in a circular motion calling the energy to her. Katara could feel her hair standing on end as the electricity built up. Finally, Azula pointed, and the air was filled with a loud crack as the lightning left her finger's and raced towards its target._

_It rushed at her so fast. Katara couldn't do anything but turn away and squeeze her eyes closed as she waited for the mind numbing pain that would come when the lightning hit her. _

_But it never came. Instead, she heard a deep voice release a short cry of pain._

_She opened her eyes. Fear built in her chest, and she turned slowly, already knowing what she was about to see. It was Zuko, arms falling limply to his sides, eyes staring straight ahead, with an expression that was strangely peaceful, and yet terribly lost, etched across his features. The lightning crackled out of existence around him and Katara felt her world beginning to shatter. He stood upright for a moment, wavering back and forth slowly, before he began to collapse._

_She was dimly aware of screaming his name, her voice high and hoarse, as she stared at the horrifying scene before her. Tears filled her eyes and spilled down her face, but she didn't notice. She had one arm desperately stretched out to him, as if she could make it all go away just by touching him._

_He had saved her. But at the same time, he had destroyed a piece of her heart. If living meant losing him, then why, oh why did he have to save her?_

_Time slowed._

_A rushing sound filled her ears._

_And she couldn't get her legs to move fast enough._

- - -

Katara hadn't realized she had fallen asleep until she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her awake.

She mumbled drowsily before her eyes snapped open, as she remembered the events of the previous day. "_Zuko_!" she cried breathlessly.

"Hmm?" a familiar, husky voice responded.

She looked up into a pair of golden eyes as Zuko stood with his face level with hers and one hand on her shoulder.

Katara was stunned speechless. She stared up at him, mouth opening and closing uselessly while no sound came out. A feeling of great relief and joy washed over her and her eyes filled with tears that ran silently down her cheeks.

Zuko frowned in concern. Cupping her cheek in one hand, he used his thumb to wipe away her tears. "What's wrong?" he asked, his brows coming together in worry.

Katara threw herself at him, wrapping him tight in her arms. "I thought I'd lost you!" she cried, new tears filling her eyes.

"Owowowow!" Zuko hissed, wincing in pain.

Katara quickly pulled away. "I'm sorry," she gasped, properly looking Zuko over. He looked tired, and angry, red scars on his chest and lower back served as a painful reminder to what had occurred. But the important thing was that he was here. He was here, alive, standing in front of Katara. Nothing else mattered.

Zuko smiled impishly down at her. "Katara," he began, toying with a lock of her hair, "don't you know I love you too much to leave you?"

Katara gently, so as not to hurt him, put her arms around his neck. He embraced her back, holding her tightly like he would never let go.

"Why would you do that? Why would you jump in front of the lightning?" Katara asked, tears choking her voice. She sniffed and continued, "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't," Zuko replied honestly. "I just... I saw what Azula was about to do and I moved without thinking. I know how to redirect lightening, but... I guess I just wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry."

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Katara whispered desperately in his ear, "I love you, you stupid, idiotic, foolish boy! I love you."

Zuko chuckled softly and brought his face in front of hers. "I love you, too, Katara" he said, kissing her softly on her forehead, her nose, and finally stopping on her lips.

Zuko had promised her forever. And she could taste it here in this kiss. Forever wasn't a measure of time. It was a feeling, much like the love that existed between them. One that would outlast time and never die.

- - -

**I wanted to give them a happy ending. Partially because I already killed off Zuko in my last one-shot. And that's just depressing. I hope you all enjoyed it! :)**


End file.
